


Sing Me a Love Song

by Crematosis



Series: Songfics [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Jealousy, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Polyamory Negotiations, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 16:22:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14168811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crematosis/pseuds/Crematosis
Summary: Just when Tony had settled into a happy relationship with Steve, Loki had to go and summon Steve's brainwashed former lover.





	Sing Me a Love Song

**Author's Note:**

> Happy April Fool's Day! Or as I like to call it, Loki Appreciation Day.

Tony wasn’t exactly known for keeping track of important dates, so he had no idea it was April Fool’s Day until he discovered that the heaping spoonful of sugar he had put in his morning coffee was in fact salt.

Clint howled with laughter and nearly toppled out of his chair. “Your face is fucking hysterical. I can’t believe that worked.”

“Are you kidding me, Barton?” Tony demanded, spitting out his salty coffee into the sink. 

Clint grinned. “Maybe not my most creative idea. But it worked, didn’t it?”

“Like hell it did. You mess with my coffee, you better be prepared for war.” He rolled up his sleeves and marched toward Clint, brandishing a bread knife.

Unfortunately, Steve stepped in and disarmed him before he could walk two steps towards the archer. “Hey, no, we have rules against killing teammates.”

“I want my revenge,” Tony declared. He shook a fist in Clint’s direction.

“Of course you do,” Steve said. He put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and steered him towards the den. “And you’ll have plenty of time to plot your revenge later.”

“But my coffee,” Tony said. He reached out a longing hand towards the kitchen and his precious coffee.

Steve pushed Tony down onto the couch. “I’ll make you a cup. Just stay here and calm down.”

“Don’t use the sugar from the sugar bowl. It’s a trap.”

“Yes, dear.” Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Just relax. I’ll take care of it.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest and sulked, but he quickly perked up when he smelled the delightful aroma of coffee.

Steve made his way carefully over to the couch, holding a full mug of steaming coffee with whipped cream on top, just the way Tony liked it. “Here you are, baby. Clint’s sorry for messing with your coffee and he’s going to stay out of your way for the rest of the day.”

“Good,” Tony said firmly. He took a tentative sip of his coffee and sighed with relief as the sugary sweetness came through. “Thanks, babe. You always come through for me.”

“Always,” Steve said with a fond smile.

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” a very unwelcome voice purred.

Tony’s hands tensed around his coffee cup as a glowing green portal opened in the middle of the den and Loki stepped out.

“Jarivs, alert the team,” Steve said. He stepped in front of Tony, his hands balled into fists. “Leave, Loki. Or we’ll have to use force.”

Tony set his coffee cup on the end table and rose to his feet as well. “Seriously, dude. Do you like getting your ass kicked? It hasn’t even been a month since the last time we beat you when you tried that weird song thing. Worst idea you’ve ever had, by the way.” He leaned into Steve and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Worked out real well for us though.”

“Silence,” Loki demanded. He stretched out his hand and Tony suddenly found his lips stuck together.

“That’s better.” Loki said with a wide grin. “I will admit that you two benefitted from my strategy in our last encounter, but I was unaware of the pathetic amount of feelings you were harboring for each other. This time, I’ve done my research.” He snapped his fingers and another portal opened. “I’ve brought you a present.”

The portal flickered and a man fell through it, rolling into a combat crouch as soon as he hit the ground. Tony almost didn’t recognize him in casual wear, but there was no mistaking that metal arm. 

Bucky Barnes. Goddamn.

Steve’s jaw dropped. His throat worked for a few moments and then what came out was a thin warble. “You've always known who I am and I know my life is better because you're a part of it.”

Bucky snorted. “Ooh, you’re my best friend.” His face contorted into a confused grimace.

Oh no. Not the song thing again.

Loki snickered. “Yes, foolish mortals. You might have used song lyrics for romance before, but I doubt you’ll be able to resolve a love triangle without being able to communicate.” With a flourish of his cape, he disappeared into shower of green glitter.

Love triangle? What the hell was he talking about? Tony looked over at Steve, but the blonde was suspiciously avoiding eye contact.

Bucky, at least, wasn’t afraid to meet Tony’s gaze. He faced him head-on, his eyes bright and assessing. And then a slow smirk spread over his face.

Goddamnit. It wasn’t fair. Tony had barely had a month with Steve and now his old, brainwashed lover was back, conveniently no longer brainwashed. 

He glared at Bucky. Steve had spent more than a year chasing after his former best friend. When he had finally caught up to him again, Bucky hadn’t recognized him. Tony had the funds for Bucky to go through every doctor on SHIELD’s payroll and several that weren’t, but none of them could get Bucky to make any progress. It took six months, with a lot of prodding by Sam, for Steve to finally admit that Bucky was never going to be the same man he was before the war. A shell of the man he once was, Steve had said. No memories, no personality. But this asshole looked like he was dripping with personality.

Bucky raised an eyebrow and his smirk widened. “You wanna give it a go?”

“No fighting,” Steve said desperately. He stepped between the two of them, his arms outstretched.

Thor burst into the room, clutching his hammer. “Where is he? I was told my brother had appeared here.”

“You’ve just missed him, I’m afraid,” Jarvis said.

Clint peered around Thor’s frame, an arrow already knocked in his bow. “Damn,” he said. “I was really hoping to put one of these babies through his thick skull and end things once and for all.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat.

“What? I know we’re not supposed to kill the guy, but he’s been a pain in the ass long enough.”

Steve cleared his throat again and gestured to Bucky.

Clint did a double take. “Holy shit, is that Barnes? What’s he doing here? No, wait, don’t tell me, it’s actually Loki. Is it? That would be the worst, Loki turning himself into Barnes because he knows Cap can’t kill his best friend.”

“Shut up, shut, and let me breathe,” Steve snapped.

Clint frowned. “What the hell? Why are you singing? Didn’t you get enough of that the last time…oh no. Did Loki get you again? Tony too?”

Tony nodded grimly.

“Damn. Guess the rest of us were lucky you chased him off before he infected the whole Tower.” Clint thumped Tony’s shoulder. “Sucks to be you though.”

Tony glared. Loki had moved to the top of his hit list at the moment, but he wasn't forgetting about Clint. After the stupid song thing got sorted out, he was definitely having his revenge.

“Any friend of our Captain’s is welcome here,” Thor said. He held out a hand to Bucky. “Welcome to the Avengers Tower.”

Bucky hesitantly held out his flesh hand and winced as Thor gave him one of his usual vigorous handshakes.

“’It is unfortunate you were greeted with one of my brother’s tricks upon your arrival,” Thor said with a frown. “Sadly, his idea of fun is to make life less fun for others.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Clint muttered.

“But this a relatively harmless spell,” Thor said. “We have all braved it once already and it has not lasted more than a few days. It is merely an inconvenience.” He patted Bucky’s shoulder. “We shall find you a room in our Tower until you are released from the spell.”

Bucky looked over at Steve.

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. There was no fucking way he was allowing Bucky to room with Steve.

Bucky and Steve did some unsettling thing where they communicated entirely with facial expressions and then Steve indicated the elevator with a jerk of his head. Bucky nodded and walked on ahead.

“You guys suck,” Clint said. “Are you really going to keep silent until the spell wears off? That’s no fun.”

“Shut your mouth, I just can’t take it,” Steve said. “Again and again and again.”

Clint snickered. “I can’t wait till you start cursing.”

Tony shouldered past everyone and clicked the button for the third communal floor. Maybe it was heartless to stick Bucky on a random floor all by himself, but there was no way Tony was letting Bucky sleep anywhere near him and Steve. That was just asking for trouble.

Steve looked a little disappointed when the elevator opened on the third floor, but Bucky shrugged and walked out to start exploring the free bedrooms. Tony pulled Steve back into the elevator before he could follow after his best friend and hit the button for the penthouse.

“Can we spend some time together?” Tony murmured, looping his arms around Steve’s neck. “All alone?”

Steve smiled and pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Nothing better than spending time with you.”

Good. So at least Bucky’s sudden appearance hadn’t completely distracted Steve. He’d probably want to check up on him later and make sure he was settling in, and Tony would let him. But for now, they were going to have their usual bout of nice, late-morning sex before Tony went to work down in the lab for several hours.

It was both thrilling and frightening that they had fallen into a domestic routine so quickly.

As soon as the elevator opened, Tony raced into the bedroom and threw himself down on the bed. Ah, precious bed. If he had known what a shitshow the day was going to be, he would have never left. But Steve was here now, and with any luck, after some smoking hot sex, Tony would fall asleep for a bit and wake up to find out that Loki’s evil plot had all been a dream.

He reclined across the bed, propping himself up on one elbow. “So tell me what you want, what you really, really want,” he purred.

Steve grimaced. “My lips are sealed.”

Oh, dammit. How could Tony have forgotten? Well, this was going to make things awkward.

Steve shrugged helplessly and then climbed onto the bed. “Tonight, I’m going to put my body on your body,” he said as he crawled up the bed towards Tony.

So, missionary it sounded like. A little boring, maybe, but it would still be good. Sex with Steve was always good. And knowing Steve, he didn’t want to try anything too adventurous when Tony didn’t have the words to state his opinion. Such a sweetheart.

Tony melted into the mattress as Steve slid his hands under his shirt. Those hands were magical. Better than any massage Tony had ever had.

“I’m in love with the shape of you,” Steve murmured against Tony’s lips. “I’m in love with your body.”

Tony groaned and moved shaky hands to Steve’s zipper. He needed more skin to skin contact immediately.

A sudden knock on the door startled him just as he was working Steve’s pants down his hips.

“Sergeant Barnes is at the door,” Jarvis said.

“I’ll be back real soon,” Steve said with a sigh. He swung his legs over the bed and pulled his pants back on.

Tony huffed. Barnes had the worst timing in the world. Or perhaps the best timing. Was cockblocking one of Hydra’s evil plans? It sounded like something they would do.

Steve ran a hand through his hair and gave his clothes a quick smooth down before he answered the door, but the flush on his cheeks and the wild look in his eyes hadn’t quite faded so it was probably pretty obvious what Bucky was interrupting.

Ha. Served him right.

Bucky gave Steve a slow once-over, his eyes lingering just a little too long on Steve’s crotch.

Tony stormed over to the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest.

Bucky’s eyes flicked over to Tony and he gave him a similar look-over, his eyes dark and assessing. Abruptly, he broke into a wide grin and he thumped Steve on the back.

Steve chuckled and playfully punched Bucky’s shoulder.

Bucky gave Tony a thumb’s up and an eyebrow waggle and then wandered back down the hall to the elevator.

What the hell was that all about?

Tony gave Steve a sidelong look. “Who’s got an answer?”

Steve just shrugged, a goofy smile on his face.

Was that Bucky’s way of showing support for Tony and Steve’s relationship? Otherwise, Tony was very confused by what had just happened.

Steve settled back on to the bed and patted the spot next to him. “Get back. Get back to where you once belonged.”

Tony scrambled back onto the bed. Steve didn’t have to tell him twice.

 

——

Tony was in a much more charitable mood after sex. 

Sure, Bucky was Steve’s former lover who was probably still very much in love with him. But he was a human being who had recovered from a shocking amount of torture. Tony ought to be supportive of his recovery and do what he could to help Bucky settle in to his new life.

From all the stories Tony had read about Bucky’s exploits during the war, he was a sniper who could give even Clint a run for his money. And that metal arm of his made him deadly at close range. The team could really use someone like him. 

So when Tony headed down to the lab for his daily engineering binge, the first thing he went to work on was designing a training simulation for Bucky. If he was anything like Steve, he’d need a lot of heavy-duty punching bags.

Three hours later, Tony emerged with blueprints for an obstacle course that cobbled together elements from the courses he had designed for Natasha, Clint, and Steve. Once he got a good look at what Bucky was really capable of, he could design something specifically for him, but for now, it would do.

“Shall I alert Sergeant Barnes that you will be opening a room for him on the training floor?” Jarvis asked.

Tony nodded. It would have been nice if he could actually explain what he had put together and why, but that would have to wait until he got his own words back. Right now, it was probably better that Bucky had a place set aside to work out any frustrations he might have. Otherwise, he might work them out on Tony’s face.

“Sergeant Barnes seems to approve the design, Sir. I shall begin uploading the simulation into an available room.”

Tony nodded and sank back in his chair. Steve would approve too, he was sure.

Well, back to work. If Loki insisted on appearing inside the Tower, Tony was really going to have to beef up his security. He pushed off his workbench and spun the chair to the other side of the lab. 

“Let’s get down to business.”

He had no idea how to actually keep Loki out of the Tower. He could appear and reappear wherever he wanted, create multiple illusions of himself, and disguise himself as an Avenger if he wanted to. 

God, magic sucked.

A knock on the door startled him out of his musings. Oh good, Steve was here with lunch. Tony gestured to Jarvis to let him in.

Steve walked in with a plate of spaghetti in his hands. And Bucky walked in right after him.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“When you’re ready, come and get it,” Steve said. He set the plate down on the edge of Tony’s bench.

Tony propped his head up on his elbow and watched Bucky. “What’s good?” he asked.

“Good enough to do your cooking,” Bucky said with a smirk.

Ah, so Bucky had whipped this up. Maybe as thanks for putting his course together? That made sense. He and Steve grew up poor. Making things homemade was probably the only way they could afford to show appreciation.

Tony took a cautious bite and his eyes went wide. Holy shit, this was the best pasta he had ever had. “Supersexy so delicious, fingerlicking good,” he groaned. He shoveled another huge portion into his mouth.

Bucky turned to Steve with the world’s biggest shit-eating grin. Steve just rolled his eyes and elbowed Bucky.

Tony handed Steve his empty plate and gave Bucky a pleasant smile. He definitely enjoyed Steve’s cooking, but Bucky was on another level. Maybe they didn’t need him in the field. Maybe he could just stay in the kitchen.

Steve gave Tony a quick peck on the cheek before he hustled Bucky out of the lab. Tony kept his eyes on Bucky the whole time, but he didn’t seem the least bit bothered to see his former boyfriend kissing someone else. He seemed weirdly content with the whole situation. But that wasn’t Tony’s problem. Getting rid of Loki was.

It was Tony’s Tower. It was Tony’s responsibility to make it a safe place for the team. It was unconscionable to know that a super villain could show up at any time and catch them at their most vulnerable. They were all very lucky that Loki liked toying with them instead of killing them in their sleep.

By the end of the day, Tony still didn’t have an answer for how to keep Loki out, but Steve dragged him from the lab with whispered promises of a warm bed and a hot body and Tony was pretty helpless to resist when Steve talked dirty.

He was less than pleased when Steve pinned him down to the bed, whispered “Goodnight, sweetheart,” in his ear and immediately went to sleep. He squirmed for a few moments, but it was impossible to get out from Steve’s arms. Reluctantly, he went to sleep.

He woke up the next morning, feeling a little more focused. Admittedly, Steve had been right. He had really used the rest.

Good thing Steve wasn’t there to rub it in is his face. Steve, the disgusting morning person that he was, had probably already finished breakfast by now. Maybe even gone for a light five mile jog.

Surprisingly, Steve was still in the kitchen when Tony stumbled in.

Bucky was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee cradled in his flesh hand. With his metal hand, he was tapping out some weird rhythm on the counter while Steve snickered into his awful green juice.

Tony really envied the way they communicated without speaking. If he wanted to tell Steve anything, he pretty much had to open his mouth and sing some stupid shit. But then again, they came from a time when you couldn’t be openly gay. Communicating with nothing more than facial expressions was probably a survival skill.

He slipped around the two of them, reaching for the Death Before Decaf mug Clint had gotten him for Christmas.

Steve pulled him into his arms when he got within reach. “You’re the first light of the morning, my cool sunrise. You're my love across the table, a little sleep in your eyes. You're my strong cup of coffee, you like to laugh right with me.” He leaned in to press a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Sweet darling, lover of mine.”

Tony was all about early morning romance, but coffee always came first. He let Steve hold him for another moment and then made his way over to the coffee machine. “All I really want is a cup of coffee so strong the spoon stands up.”

He poured himself a nice full cup and added several spoonfuls of sugar. He took a tentative sip just in case it was still salt, but thank god, someone had put the sugar back. He gulped down half of his mug and groaned with satisfaction. Glorious, glorious coffee. Everything was alright with the world.

Bucky looked Tony up and down. “Yeah, boy,” he said with a wolf whistle. “Give me some of that.”

Tony did a spit-take with his coffee.

Steve laughed and gave Bucky a high-five.

What the hell was this, revenge for all the times he had tried to shock Steve with future shit? Well, Tony probably deserved that. But damn. Bucky was more of a goofball than Tony had expected. He had heard so many tales of his heroism, his skill, his loyalty. Nobody had mentioned him being a prankster.

Tony was kind of into it.

“There’s way too much flirting going on in here this morning,” Natasha muttered as she picked through the bagels on the counter. “I thought you boys would be back to normal by now. But I guess Tony’s taking his sweet time working out a cure.”

Tony shot her a savage glare. He had been working as hard as he could. And who was she to judge? It’s not like she was doing anything to help. 

“You know, I think Tony might enjoy the serenading just a little too much,” Natasha said as she delicately buttered her bagel. “I don’t think he wants to reverse it.”

“Watch me,” Tony hissed. He snatched up his cup of coffee

Steve groaned. “Now look what you’ve done.”

Tony marched down to the lab and booted up his computer. He was going to show her. He was….he was completely out of ideas.

In an act of desperation, Tony dragged Thor down to his lab and gestured at the blank document he had up on his computer screen titled “How to get rid of Loki.”

“I’m sorry, my friend,” Thor said. “I have very little knowledge of my brothers’s doings. I know of no magic that can counter his. I’m afraid we must simply wait this spell out.”

It was just what Tony was expecting to hear, but discouraging nonetheless. He was pretty much out of ideas at the moment.

Distractedly, he paged through Jarvis’ video feeds. There was Bruce sitting at the kitchen counter, drinking a cup of tea. There was Clint playing video games in the den. And there was Steve walking onto the training floor, Bucky in tow.

Tony leaned forward in his seat excitedly. Finally, he’d have some cold, hard data on what that killer arm could actually do. 

It was a shame there weren’t any cameras installed in the rooms so he could watch Bucky kick ass, but nobody wanted Tony watching them train. Natasha had already threatened to castrate him for drooling over footage of her taking down a training bot with her thighs. Tony couldn’t help it. Watching hot people be scarily efficient was kind of a turn-on. And to be honest, the entire team was full of hot people who were damn good at what they did. And Bucky was no exception. At least there were all kinds of sensors around the room to record the data that Tony really needed.

Tony rubbed his hands together as both Steve and Bucky stepped into their respective rooms and the simulations started.

Holy shit. Were those numbers accurate? According to the pressure sensors, Bucky was hitting harder than Steve was with just his flesh hand. And that arm of his, damn.

On the hallway feed, Bucky walked out of the training room, gently shaking his hair out of his eyes. Tony let out a tiny whimper. He really wished there had been cameras in that room. 

A few minutes later, Steve stepped out of his room, looking sweaty and satisfied.

Tony groaned and and slumped down in his chair. His boyfriend looked unbelievably hot after a good workout. He wanted to lick him.

Apparently, Tony wasn’t the only one who thought so. Bucky walked over to Steve and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Steve didn’t push him away. He only deepened the kiss. When the two of them finally parted, he cupped his hands around Bucky’s face and murmured. “I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend.”

Tony’s heart sank. This was it, the worst possible outcome to Bucky’s return. It fucking hurt to know Steve chose Bucky over him, but Tony was man enough to understand he wasn’t all things to all people. Likely, if Bucky hadn’t fallen from the train, he and Steve would have spent the rest of their lives together. He couldn’t begrudge them their happy reunion.

But damn it, would it have killed Steve to have broken up with him first?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He marched over to the elevator and jabbed the button for the penthouse.

Fucking Steve. Tony wanted him out of his life right now. He shoved open the closet door, grabbed as many of Steve’s shirts as he could find and threw them on the floor. He ripped Steve’s precious leather jacket off the hanger and stormed off to go confront the cheaters.

The two of them were no longer on the training floor making out, at least. But they were sprawled out on the couch in the den, which was almost as bad.

Tony threw Steve’s jacket at the two of them. “I want to see you out that door. Baby, bye bye bye.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Oh, baby, no baby. You got me all wrong, baby.”

“I know you lie, cause your lips are moving. Tell me do you think I’m dumb?”

“Listen, baby, I’m sorry. Just want to tell you, don’t worry,” Steve began.

Don’t worry? Did Steve honestly expect him to believe the “Don’t worry about him. We’re just friends” shit?

“We are never, ever, ever getting back together,” Tony hissed. He slammed the door behind him and retreated to his lab.

He made it just inside the door before all the anger drained out of him and he collapsed to the floor in tears.

It wasn’t fair. He had been so happy with Steve. The sex had been amazing, but it had been so much more than that. Cuddling on the couch together for movie nights, lazy mornings in bed, late-night snacks and comforting hugs after nightmares. Those two months together had felt like a lifetime. And now it was gone.

Hesitant footsteps came up behind him and then strong arms were wrapped around him. “Is it too late now to say sorry?” Bucky whispered.

Tony’s first impulse was to shove him to the ground and accuse him of stealing Steve from him. But it wasn’t Bucky’s fault. He and Steve had never broken up so Bucky was just resuming where their relationship left off. Steve was the one who had actually decided to cheat on Tony.

He sobbed into Bucky’s shirt. “How could this happen to me?”

“Sir,” Jarvis said hesitantly. “Captain Rogers is approaching.”

Tony scrambled to his feet and swiped at his eyes. Steve wasn’t going to see him cry.

Steve walked through the door and sank to his knees. “All the messed up things I do. Yeah I swear I'll make 'em up to you. Before you go and have enough, just let me make it better. I'll try to measure up. I’ll try to measure up to you.”

Tony blinked. Steve looked and sounded incredibly remorseful. But appearances could be deceiving.

He huffed. “Do you really want to hurt me? Do you really want to make me cry?”

Steve shook his head. “I’ll never break your heart. I’ll never make you cry. I’d rather die than live without you.”

Bucky nodded and stood next to Steve. “I want it that way.”

“I can’t believe it’s finally me and you,” Steve said, gesturing between him and Tony. “And you and me.” He gestured between himself and Bucky.

“And you and me,” Bucky added. He slung an arm over Tony’s shoulders. “It’s always me and you and your friend Steve.”

“Your friend Steve,” Tony shot back. Bucky was always going to be Steve’s best friend. There was just no way Tony could compete with all that history.

Bucky groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. His eyes brightened. “Maybe we could drink some. Then we could have a threesome.”

A threesome? Really? He gave Bucky a flat look. “Don’t wantcha for the weekend.”

Bucky nodded. “Don’t wantcha for the night.”

Steve smiled faintly. “I’m only interested if I can have you for life.”

Tony gave Bucky a considering look. If he went along with this plan, he’d have Steve back. He’d also have to share him with Bucky, but that didn’t seem as much of a big deal as it had earlier. Bucky was fun and flirty and insanely attractive. If he was really into Tony and not just fighting over Steve, there was a chance that this could work out. “If we don’t fuck this whole thing up.”

“I will love you more than that,” Steve said firmly. “I won't say the words then take them back.”

Bucky smirked and crooked a finger towards Tony. “Guaranteed I can blow your mind.”

Well, moment of truth. 

Tony took a slow step forwards.

“Look what you made me do,” Bucky murmured as he pulled him into a searing kiss.

Hot damn. Bucky kissed like he was conquering. Definitely not the kiss of someone who was only putting up with him to get Steve back.

“God, baby,” Bucky groaned as they broke apart. “I could kiss you all day.”

“We’re really sorry, Tony,” Steve said quickly. “I decided immediately that I couldn’t give either of you up and Bucky was on board with sharing.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Bucky said. “Double the pleasure, double the fun.”

“But we really should have waited until we discussed things with you and made sure you were okay with it,” Steve said miserably.

“That’s on me,” Bucky said. “I thought you had gotten the idea when I started flirting with you. But Stevie did say you’re a little oblivious when people are into you.”

“When did he say that?” Tony demanded. “I know there’s no fucking song about that.”

Steve tapped a finger on one of Tony’s benches. “Morse code.”

Ah, damn it. He shouldn’t have dismissed all of Rhodey’s army training as boring.

“But now that we’re not forced to sing everything,” Steve began.

Right. Now that they had gotten their words back….

“Unbelievable,” Loki snarled as he popped through his green portal. “Your mortals ruin everything.”

Steve launched himself at Loki and pulled him into a hug. “I can’t thank you enough for saving Bucky. Everyone said he was a lost cause. Every doctor we sent him to said he’d never recover.”

“Seriously,” Bucky said. “You just erased seventy years of torture and brainwashing like it was nothing.”

“Of course it was nothing,” Loki said indignantly. “Mortal technology is far inferior to my magic.”

“I have alerted the team of this development,” Jarvis said. “They are all pleased to hear things have gone well, Thor in particular.”

“Oh no,” Loki said faintly.

“Brother!” Thor said joyously. “I knew there was still goodness in you.” He swept Loki up in a crushing hug. “I am so proud of you.”

“No, let me go, you oaf,” Loki growled. “This wasn’t my intention.”

“We shall have a great feast,” Thor said. “Celebrating your skillful return of the Captain’s long-lost friend.”

Loki rolled his eyes as Thor dragged him off to the kitchen, but there was the hint of a smile on his face.

“Let Thor deal with Loki,” Steve said. “The three of us have some talking to do.”

Tony grinned. He liked the sound of that.


End file.
